A protection circuit protects an electronic circuit from damage caused by ESD and impedance mismatches (i.e., power amplifier ruggedness). The electronic circuit is protected from such damage by dissipating positive and negative electrostatic charges through the protection circuit.
The protection circuit is connected between nodes of the electronic circuit being protected. Different configurations of the protection circuit are required to handle different magnitudes of voltages that need to be dissipated from the electronic circuit. It is highly desirable that the protection circuit does not add substantial cost or size to the electronic circuit. It is also highly desirable that the addition of protection circuits to the design does not add substantial time and cost to the circuit design and development process owing to re-designing, re-fabrication, and re-characterization for the different configurations.